Literacy Week is a wonderful opportunity to highlight something truly powerful: reading is one of the most important skills your child will ever learn. Not only does it strengthen academic success, but it also boosts confidence, creativity, communication skills, and curiosity about the world.

Below is an evidence‑based look at why reading matters, along with practical, fun ideas families can use to weave literacy naturally into their daily routines.

1. Reading builds lifelong learning skills.

Research shows that strong early reading skills set the foundation for all future learning. Children who read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to graduate high school, making early literacy a key predictor of long-term success. [ies.ed.gov]

2. Family involvement dramatically improves literacy.

Multiple studies confirm that when families read together regularly, children show stronger vocabulary, comprehension, and overall reading achievement. A recent meta-analysis found that family-led literacy activities significantly improve both word-reading skills and reading comprehension for school-aged children. [link.springer.com]

Similarly, research shows that children whose parents read to them frequently develop stronger cognitive and social–emotional skills and are more likely to perform at grade level. [nabu.org]

3. Parents’ beliefs and attitudes matter.

Studies show that children benefit when their parents value literacy and engage positively in reading activities. Parental attitudes can strongly influence a child’s confidence, motivation, and willingness to read. [frontiersin.org]

4. Reading helps close achievement gaps.

Family engagement—real, consistent collaboration between school and home—has been shown to be a key factor in supporting underserved students and improving reading proficiency. With students spending 87% of their waking hours outside of school, home literacy habits play a major role in academic growth. [springboar...rative.org]

Below are simple, creative ways families can make literacy part of everyday life—no special materials required.

1. Create a Daily Reading Routine: Even 10–15 minutes a day makes a difference. Consistent routines are one of the most effective ways to build reading skills.

Try reading: [content.acsa.org]

2. Read with your child, not just to your child. Ask questions like:

3. Celebrate effort: Praise your child for trying hard, sounding out tricky words, or sticking with a challenging book. Encouraging effort—not just accuracy—builds confidence. [content.acsa.org]

4. Use new vocabulary in everyday conversations. Talk about interesting words at dinner, in the car, or while cooking. Everyday conversation plays a big role in expanding vocabulary and language skills. [ies.ed.gov]

5. Keep books everywhere. Place books in:

6. Turn daily activities into literacy moments.

7. Start a family book club. Choose a short book or chapter book to read together as a family. Discuss characters, favorite parts, or interesting new words.

8. Create a “reading adventure”. Set up cozy reading spots with blankets and flashlights.

Have a “reading picnic” indoors or outside.

Build a blanket fort library!

9. Visit your public library weekly. Libraries offer:

10. Write together. Encourage writing through:

Reading opens doors—doors to imagination, knowledge, empathy, and opportunity. Literacy Week reminds us that growing strong readers happens not only in the classroom but also in the small, joyful moments at home.

With just a few intentional habits, families can nurture children who love reading and feel confident as learners. Every book read, every story shared, and every conversation about words helps your child grow.

·       Volunteers Needed…Our Book Fair is right around the corner, and we need your help! We’re looking for volunteers to assist with staffing the fair and helping students during checkout. Even one shift makes a big difference—but we’d love you for two… or even ten! 😊 Thank you for your support, Warriors! Use this link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B044FA8AC23A6F85-61960340-james. Don’t forget you will need a volunteer background check on file if you have not filled one out already.

·       JWE Literacy Night… Calling All Junior Detectives and Their Families!

Family Literacy Night: “The Case of the Missing Book” A mysterious book has vanished… and we need your help to crack the case! Report to JWE Headquarters on Thursday, March 5th from 5:30–7:00 PM to join our team of investigators. Families will search for clues by exploring interactive reading and writing stations, browse for new reads at the Scholastic Book Fair, and refuel with pizza, water, and cookies. Every JWE student detective will receive a free book to take home as evidence. And for an icy treat, the Kona Ice truck will be stationed outside. If your detective team plans to join the investigation, please sign up using the link below: www.jweliteracy.com. Case closed—we can’t wait to see you there! 

·       Summer School Enrollment… begins on Monday, March 2nd. Enroll your child in the Blue Springs School District (BSSD) Summer School Program June 1st – June 25th. Parents of children that are incoming kindergarteners through 5th grade should enroll their child through the Parent Portal (under Forms, Summer School 2026). Be sure to sign up by April 24th to reserve your spot! 

·       BSSD’s 2026-2027 Kindergarten Screening and Enrollment Information… Do you have a child who will be 5 years of age before August 1st, 2026? If so they are eligible for kindergarten enrollment! Call the office at 816-874-3660 to schedule an appointments for anytime on Monday, March 9th noon-7pm or Tuesday, March 10th from 9am-3pm.

·       JWE Yearbooks are now on sale!...visit ybpay.com to order your yearbook today. Use yearbook ID Code: 14150226. Order deadline is March 14, 2026.

·       JWE’s Mavericks Night… JWE will be hosting a Maverick’s Night at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence on Wednesday, March 4th. Our very own JWE’s Honors Choir will be performing the National Anthem. To purchase tickets, use this link: https://www.gofevo.com/event/2526james2. This event is open to all of our JWE families. We hope to see you there.

·       Family Resource Assistance…Looking for additional support with school supplies, clothing, counseling, or community resources? We can help! Fill out this link and we will be reaching out soon. Fall 25-26 Resources for JWE Families – Fill out form

·       Lunch Accounts/Free and Reduced Lunch Applications- It is not too late! You an apply for this at any time.  To enroll, you login to school café, click here https://www.schoolcafe.com/. The following link is a tutorial of how to enroll: https://vimeo.com/280726060/a627865334. Please remember to include everyone in your household, even if they are not students as this can impact the application being accepted. 

·       Want to opt in on School Text Messages…If you opted out of text communication and want to opt back in, text "START" to 66458.

·       Visions of Peace Art Contest Grades 2-5…See the Attached Document on Visions of Peace Contest Details and Visions of Peace Contest Entry Form

·       Elks Lodge Poster Contest Grades 3-5… See the attached Elks Lodge Poster Contest Details

·       Letters to the Lieutenant Governor Project Grades K – 5… See the attached Letters to the Lieutenant Governor Project Details 

Be sure you talk with your child before they go to school if they need to eat breakfast at school or not. 

To put money on your child's lunch account please visit: www.schoolcafe.com.

To apply for free or reduced meals, please complete the appropriate forms ASAP on www.schoolcafe.com. You can apply for this at any time.

The following link is a tutorial of how to enroll: https://vimeo.com/280726060/a627865334. Please remember to include everyone in your household, even if they are not students as this can impact the application being accepted. 

Elementary Breakfast        $1.85

Elementary Lunch             $2.95

Milk Price                           $0.70

*Reduced Breakfast           $0.00 (must qualify)

*Reduced Lunch                $0.40 (must qualify)

·      School hours are 9:15am - 4:05pm. Doors open at 9am. Please do not send/drop off your student any sooner since we do not have supervision outside until then. The earliest that you can drop off your student(s) is 9:00am. 

·      Attendance- Please make sure your child is on time to school each day. Attendance matters and is important! Check out this attached article on attendance and how you can help improve this.

·      Parent Pick Up and Drop Off-If you are a car rider, please make sure you are going through the car rider line. Student may not be dropped off on Sunnyside School Road. Lastly, please remember that we need you to mindful of our neighbors and please do not block their driveways. Thank you very much for your help with these.

·      Dismissal-If your plans change on your pick up procedures, please notify your child's teacher and the office prior to 3:30pm.

·       Water Bottles…Just a friendly reminder that if you are sending your student to school with a water bottle, it needs to be filled with water only. Please do not send water bottles with juice, tea, soda, kool-aid, etc. Thank you for your help with this!

·      Parent Square… Be sure to download this app. It is the best way to receive communication from your child’s teacher and our school.

·      PTA…Be sure to join PTA! The PTA consists of parents and teachers working together to support and best serve all students, the needs of James Walker Elementary and our community. PTA is a team effort and we would love to have your involvement anytime! We also have business memberships available as well. To sign up, click on this link https://linktr.ee/jameswalkerpta

·        Water bottles: We highly encourage you to send your child with a water bottle filled with WATER only, every day. We have water filling stations to refill their water bottles as needed. 

·        Food Delivery: We cannot deliver food orders sent to students at our school (ex. Door Dash, Grub Hub, etc). So please do not order them and send them to school unless they are addressed to Mrs. Brownsberger.

·        Birthday Treats: If you would like to provide treats for your child’s birthday, this must be pre-arranged with your child’s teacher at least 24 hours in advance. Also, all treats must be store-bought, individual (not whole cakes), and packaged.

·        Volunteer/Background Check Information:  Each year we need an updated background check if you plan on volunteering up at school. The Blue Springs School District uses DataSource to enhance and strengthen our current background screening process for Volunteer Guests. It is FREE, SECURE, and SIMPLE to register. Please visit: https://bssd.quickapp.pro to fill out an application. Once there you will see all Blue Springs School District schools will be listed. Click on the building in which you are planning to volunteer. (If you have students attending multiple buildings, you will only need to complete one application. After completing the application, please contact the Building School Resource Officer for the school you applied at and let them know you have students at additional locations). Volunteer applications MUST be submitted at least five (5) days before the event for which you are volunteering. After submission, please wait for an email from DataSource. The email will let you know whether you have been approved or denied.

·       Lunch Visitors… To eat lunch with your child, you will need to complete a background check prior to coming. To complete a free background check click here: https://bssd.quickapp.pro. Then you will need to sign up for a day to be a lunch guest https://jwelunchvisitors.youcanbook.me/. We need at least 24 hours notice when signing up. That means you cannot sign up on the same day you want to eat lunch. We appreciate your help and planning with this.

·       Ronald McDonald House…Student Council is asking for your help! As part of a service project to help the families who belong to the Ronald McDonald House of Kansas City we are collecting pop tabs. These pop tabs support families with children in the hospital that stay at RMHC-KC or visit the Family Room. Advantage Metals, a local Kansas City recycler, buys the tabs at market rate and makes an additional charitable contribution to the Ronald McDonald House. They generously donate their pick-up and handling services, so the income from pop tabs is pure profit. Last year, this program brought in $20,000. We want to help them raise even more this year! WHAT CAN YOU DO? Collect pop tabs in zip-lock bags, cardboard boxes, coffee cans or plastic trash bags. Student Council will have a container set up in the office to collect the tabs. Your teacher will also have a collection “house” to keep the tabs collected. If you have a workplace that would be interested in collecting pop tabs for JWE’s Student Council please email Mrs. Hartstack at khartstack@bssd.net or Mrs. Horton ahorton@bssd.net and they will send some cardboard houses home with your child. Please do not use plastic soda bottles or milk jugs because they’re hard to empty! Thank you! 

Click on the link below to learn more about our school, available resources, and grade-level information. Inside, you'll find curriculum details that outline what your child will be learning this year, along with insights into their classroom experience. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher or contact our office at 816-874-3660. We’re here to support you and your child every step of the way!